The Gospel of Winter

Parents need to know that The Gospel of Winter tells about a teen boy who's molested by his local priest. Readers will learn about the real-life sexual abuse scandal that rocked the Catholic Church in the early 2000s through this fictional account, which also suggests why a victim might have wanted to keep quiet -- and why other members of his community might encourage this silence. Acts of sexual abuse are described more as impressions rather than in detail. There's other mature material, too: Teens, including the protagonist, drink until they get drunk, smoke cigarettes and marijuana, take pills, and snort Adderall. Also, they swear a lot ("f--k," "s--t," "bulls--t," "damn," plus "faggot" and "ass"). There's a lot of kissing among boys and girls passing pot smoke back and forth. Boys at a party take pictures of themselves hazing another boy who's passed out, and Aiden gets punched in the face while trying to stop them. Aiden grips his passed-out friend's private parts to see if there's an attraction. Later, he gets too rough when making out with his girlfriend, hurting her; she must force him off of her. Aiden initially pressures other abuse victims to keep quiet, but he's ultimately able to confront the head priest and learns that, even though he's a victim, he must support the people he cares about.